Tremaine Gallery at The Hotchkiss School reopens to the public May 15
LAKEVILLE, Conn. — The Tremaine Art Gallery at The Hotchkiss School will present “Fragmentary Blue,” a group exhibit of 17 artists, curated by Joan Baldwin, Curator of Special Collections at Hotchkiss, and the Gallery’s Director Terri L. Moore. The exhibit is on view May 15–June 17. A reception, free and open to the public, is scheduled for Sunday, May 15, 2–4 p.m. Please note visitors must wear masks and bring proof of vaccination.
The exhibit highlights participating artists’ diverse responses to the color blue and borrows its title from Robert Frost’s poem “Fragmentary Blue,” which includes the lines: “Why make so much of fragmentary blue / In here and there a bird, or butterfly, / Or flower, or wearing-stone, or open eye, / When heaven presents in sheets the solid hue?”
Whether working with blue as an expression of mood, hue, or symbol, invited artists have engaged with the color in a range of media while considering and exploring what blue means in their work. They may explore how a color associated with bird’s eggs, the Madonna, with mourning, summer skies, Krishna, hyacinths, and the ocean deepens our understanding of color and mood. Selected work will be exhibited with a series of poems and text, echoed by a group of blue objects, both natural and fabricated, turning the Tremaine Art Gallery into a multimedia book where images, objects, color, and words intersect.
Exhibiting artists include Cynthia Alberto, Mandy Cano Villalobos, Rosa Chang, Nancy Cohen, Ann Conrad-Stewart, Joy Curtis, Beth Dary, Grace DeGennaro, Valerie Hammond, Tate Klacsmann, Jordana Munk Martin, Caitlin Parker, Sarah Pettitt, Beau Bree Rhee, Dora Somosi, Alyce Santoro, and Janis Stemmerman.
The Tremaine Art Gallery is located in the Main Building of The Hotchkiss School and is open Tuesdays–Saturdays from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sundays from 12–4 p.m.
—A.K.
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Pittsfield First Friday Artswalk returns May 6
PITTSFIELD — First Friday Artswalk returns for the season with 11 new exhibits on Friday, May 6 from 5–8 p.m. Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. will also present Indoors Out! Free Kids’ Paint & Sip from 5:30–7:30 p.m., at the parklet and outdoor seating area at The Marketplace Café, 53 North Street.
Soma’s Aromas, 81 East Street, will present Jennifer Johnson’s shadowboxes for the month of May. Johnson’s shadowboxes are handmade using found, recycled, refurbished, metal detected, and mudlarked items from around the world. There will be a reception with the artist on during the Artswalk. Hot Plate Brewing Co. will pour samples, and the artist will create a shadowbox in real time to show her process.
Hotel on North, 297 North Street, will feature “Rhythm and Hues” by Michael Fabrizio through May 31. There will be a reception with the artist during the Artswalk. NUarts Studios & Gallery at 311 North Street, will host Open Studios with artists Caroline Kelley, Shany Porras, Sally Tiska Rice, and Ilene Richard.
Dr. Mark Mellinger will also host Open Studios in the Agricultural Bank Building, 100 North Street, Room 322. While continuing his psychoanalytic practice, Mark paints, does collage, and makes constructions of found objects in his Pittsfield studio.
Susan Lynch Smith and Kayla Corby, two artists from the Guild of Berkshire Artists, will show their work during the month of May at TKG Real Estate, 137 North Street. A reception for the artists will be held during the Artswalk.
The Brothership Building Window at 141 North Street, curated by IS183 Art School, will feature “Winter Study” by Katherine Finkelstein, an artist and the founder and director of Motherbox Gallery, an exhibition space she has run out of her Brooklyn apartment since 2016. She teaches photography at the Buxton School in Williamstown.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Pittsfield, 175 Wendell Avenue, will present “Valenti and Valenti – An Evening of Art and Poetry,” a show by a husband-wife team, for the month of May. During the Artswalk, Dan Valenti will join Poet Jerri Chaplin of Charleston, South Carolina, and author Paul Kocak of Syracuse, New York, as each read from their newly published collaborative book, “Third Person Singular: 33 1/3 Poems Each” (Planet Media Books-2022). The reading will take place from 6–7 p.m.
Senior AP Art & Design students will present their senior portfolio sustained investigations at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Avenue, for the month of May, with an opening reception Wednesday, May 11, from 6–7 p.m. Featured artists are Isabella Ameen, Antonia Bedard, Isabelle Berkel, Dale Christiana, Cody Clemons, Charlotte Coco, Shyah Figuero, Kaden Griffin, Lucien Nash, Sophia Nguyen, Mia Powers, Mackenzi Ressler, Paige Webster, and Isabella Witherell.
MCLA Pittsfield, 66 Allen Street, will feature an art show by JC Innocence and Delano Mills, with a reception during the Artswalk. The Berkshire Museum, 39 South Street, will offer free admission to their newest exhibition, “Project Vaccine: Our Best Defense” (“Proyecto Vacunas: Nuesta mejor defensa”) during the Artswalk. The Marketplace Cafe, 53 North Street, will present mixed-media portraits by Mollie Kellogg for the month of May, with a reception for the artist during the Artswalk.
Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. will present Indoors Out! Free Kids’ Paint & Sip on Friday from 5:30-7:30 pm, at the parklet and outdoor seating area at The Marketplace Café, 53 North Street. This free event is best suited for ages 5–12, although older children are welcome. All materials and instruction are provided. Kids will be able to choose to paint Spring Trees or Swirly Flowers. Snacks and juice will also be provided. Children must be accompanied by an adult and masks are required. The rain location is the Conference Room at 33 Dunham Mall (the Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. office). Notice will be made on Facebook (@DowntownPittsfield) if the event is moved to the rain location.
—A.K.
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Maria Teresa Cometto to give talk on Emma Stebbins at Ventfort Hall
LENOX — Who was Emma Stebbins? Why is there a stone memorial to her in the heart of Lenox at the junction of Main and Cliffwood Streets? On Saturday, May 7 at 3:30 p.m., Italian-American journalist Maria Teresa Cometto will bring provide answers in a talk at Ventfort Hall. Her newest book, “Emma and the Central Park Angel,” will be published (in Italian) later this fall by Neri Pozza. Local historian Cornelia Brooke Gilder will participate in the presentation.
In New York City, Emma Stebbins’ uplifting statue “Angel of the Waters,” installed in 1873 in Central Park, is an iconic landmark. It was the first public commission by a woman in the city, and has been used as an evocative backdrop in countless films, including most recently in Julian Fellowes’ “Gilded Age.” But who knows about Stebbins’ artistic career in mid-19th-century Rome or her retirement years in Lenox?
Maria Teresa Cometto has been based in New York City since 2000. For almost 30 years, she has been a correspondent for the leading Italian daily “Corriere della Sera.” She has written two other biographies, and in 2017 was awarded the title “Cavaliere (Knight) dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.”
Tickets are $20. Reservations are required. For reservations call us at 413-637-3206 starting April 21st. Please note that all tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable.
—A.K.
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Stockbridge Library’s Golf & Tennis Classic to be held May 23
STOCKBRIDGE — The Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives has announced the return of its annual Golf & Tennis Classic at the Stockbridge Golf Club. After a two-year hiatus, the event is scheduled for Monday, May 23, and is dedicated to the Stockbridge Golf Club on its COVID-delayed 125th anniversary.
Golfers will tee off in a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., and tennis players will take to the courts at 11 a.m. A continental breakfast, golf cart, and luncheon buffet are included in the fees ($125 for golf, $75 for tennis). All are welcome to participate. Registration forms are available at the Stockbridge Library and the Library’s website.
This year, the Classic will offer golfers an opportunity to vie for a $10,000 cash prize for a hole-in-one on the 14th hole. Prizes will also be offered for a hole-in-one on other par 3’s. Proceeds from the Classic will benefit the Stockbridge Library.
—A.K.
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June 15 deadline to apply for new prize for young artists
SANDISFIELD — The Sandisfield Arts Center announces the Daniel Manacher Prize for Young Artists. Three artists will be selected as finalists and each will receive $350 in support of their art practice, as well as a group show of their work at the Sandisfield Arts Center on August 13, 2022.
The prize was created by Adam Manacher and Carol Birnbaum, the parents of Daniel Manacher, in memory of their son and his passion for art. Eligible artists are those 17–26 years of age living or attending school in Berkshire County. There is no fee associated with the application and all entrants will be judged based solely on the merit of the work presented.
This year, applications will be accepted from those working in painting, drawing, mixed media, sculpture, digital paintings, and digital drawings. The entry deadline is June 15. The applications will be reviewed by a selection committee and artists will be notified no later than July 15.
For more details about the application requirements and exhibition dates, click here. Direct any questions to gallery@sandisfieldartscenter.org.
—A.K.
